Designing Super-survival System by Studying Bacterial Biofilm Formation

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19KK0103
• Research Category: Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (B))
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 21:Electrical and electronic engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Kano Takeshi 東北大学, 電気通信研究所, 准教授 (80513069)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 福原 洸 東北大学, 電気通信研究所, 助教 (10827611) ; 石黒 章夫 東北大学, 電気通信研究所, 教授 (90232280) ; 安井 浩太郎 東北大学, 学際科学フロンティア研究所, 助教 (70876739)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-10-07 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 自律分散制御 / バイオフィルム / サバイバビリティ / イトミミズ / チスイコウモリ / COVID-19

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim is to construct a design theory for artificial systems with high "survivability", which autonomously generates adaptive strategies to the environment and effectively functions even under harsh conditions. To achieve this goal, together with Dr. Asally from the UK, we explored the principles of environmental adaptation strategies demonstrated by bacterial biofilms. While the initially planned evolutionary experiments with bacteria were abandoned, we extracted the essence of altruistic strategies, where individual cells of the population coexist by temporarily restricting nutrient intake, through mathematical modeling, and successfully reproduced their behavior through simulation. Furthermore, we investigated the mechanisms of survivability in life and social systems such as water fleas, pipistrelle bats, and the COVID-19 pandemic, paving the way towards systematic design theory construction.

Free Research Field

自律分散制御

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

従来の人工物は想定環境下で優れた機能を発揮できるものの，予期せぬ事態が起こりうる環境下で機能し続けるのは困難であった．本研究は，環境への適応戦略を自律的に創出し，過酷な環境下でも機能する「サバイバビリティ」の高い人工物システムの構築につながるものである．バクテリアは原初的な生物であるにもかかわらず，飢餓状態にある他の細胞を助けるために自身の餌摂取を控えるという利他的な戦略をとっており，その枠組みを数理で抽出できたことは意義深い．また，バクテリア以外のシステムのサバイバビリティ実現戦略も明らかにしており，異なるシステムをつなぐ原理の抽出は今後の人工物の適応能力の飛躍的向上につながると期待される．